Etymograph

English

quarry

Quarry comes from Old French quarrière, from Latin quadrō ‘to square’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres ‘four’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwóres1‘four’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquattuor1‘four’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadra1‘a square’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrō1‘to square’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*quadraria1reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400quarrière1
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quarreria1
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quarere1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1644quarry1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quarry
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1644, John Milton, London: [s.n.]: “Yet theſe are the men cry'd out againſt for…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwóresWiktionary, English quarry‘four’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquattuorWiktionary, English quarry‘four’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadraWiktionary, English quarry‘a square’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrōWiktionary, English quarry‘to square’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*quadrariaWiktionary, English quarryreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400quarrièreWiktionary, English quarry
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quarreriaWiktionary, English quarry
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quarereWiktionary, English quarry
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1644quarryWiktionary, English quarry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1644, John Milton, London: [s.n.]: “Yet theſe are the men cry'd out againſt for…”

The story

From Middle English quarere, from Medieval Latin quarreria (1266), literally a “place where stones are squared”, from Old French quarrière (compare modern French carrière), from Vulgar Latin *quadraria, from Latin quadrō (‘to square’), itself from quadra (‘a square’), from quattuor (‘four’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (‘four’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres ‘four’

fourth, kern, farthing, carillon, tetrad, ferd, quire, 18 more

through Latin quattuor ‘four’

cater, squadron, cadre, quadruple, cuatro, quatre, quatrain, 25 more

through Latin quadrō ‘to square’

squad, square, quadrant, quadratic, quadra, 8 more

Another origin of quarry

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quiree‘entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quyrre‘the entrails given to hunting dogs as a reward’
  3. Englishtodayquarry

From Middle English quyrre, querre, quirre, from Anglo-Norman quiree (‘entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward’) (influenced by cuir (‘skin (of an animal)’), from Latin corium (‘a hide’)), from coree (‘entrails, viscera’), from Vulgar Latin corata (‘entrails’), from Latin cor (‘heart’).

Today it means

noun A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quarry”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres / quarry

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